Review Summary: So close to being the Shape of Black Metal to Come.
Beginning a very exclusive club in ‘59 Ornette Coleman released a revolutionary album and claimed The Shape of Jazz to Come. 1998 saw Refused follow suit and seize the Shape of Punk to Come. Thy Catafalque’s album released in 2004, except for a few missteps, could have been the next record to hold that title. The two multi talented band members along with two invited guests clutch onto handfuls of greatness here and are able to successfully mix black metal with prog, world music, mountain folk and a little psychedelia.
The sound of wind, the type of wind that is followed by dark, grey rainclouds is the first thing you notice as the album starts. This reference sound is used throughout the album and is effective in shaping the overall tone. The opening track, Csillagkohó only hints at what is to come. This is the most standard black metal track to be found here with double bass kicks, ripping guitar, screaming vocals but it also shows hints of the particularly eerie use of keys and synths as background ambiance that this record is full of. Does the music convey the the narrative of a protagonist running down a path in a haunted forest? Who knows since the lyrics are in Hungarian but if I had to lay money down that would be my guess.
Neath Waters (Minden V*zbe Mártott Test), the second track here which henceforth should only be referred to as the “moneymaker” is really the whole reason for this album to even exist. The moneymaker is an 18 minute long thesis on the alchemy required to successfully fuze black metal with other genres. Put together like an orchestral piece, this track is separated into three movements that each have their own crescendos and musical conflicts. One of the guests on the album, Nikoletta Gezanits, really stands out on this track. She has the voice of a lonely wanderer, the soothing sound of melancholy. Her hypnotic vocals throughout the album but especially here work as a nice counterpoint to the lead singers harsher screams.
The songs first movement begins with a stock drum beat and different electronic melodies floating around upon each other. When Nikoletta begins singing her vocal tones are perfectly mirrored by a violin creating incredible effective moodiness. When the bass finally charges in and the lead singer appears, no such violin work can be found but the guitar work keeps things crashing and uptempo.
Mostly instrumental, movement number two begins with alluring yet simple grand piano scales. The album’s other guest, violinist Anita B*ró, really steals the spotlight when she comes in to shift the direction of song. Soon aided by the deep pounding of drums and wailing synthesizers the winds that began the album are cranked up to thunderstorm heights and terrorize the poor Hungarian mountaintops.
Part three is life after the storm and the definitive nod to the early days of progging. For awhile this section is content with mostly just synth until keys and drums arrive to kick it into gear till the 18th minute ticks by.
That is followed by Bolygó, bolyongó, which starts off head scratchingly similar to Pink Floyd’s Time before an almost techno drum beat kicks in and the band proceeds to play a hollow sounding track that, while well done, strays too far from the band’s metal roots. About half way through after an intriguing middle eastern interlude the song kicks back in but this time with a better drum beat and now including the driving bottom end sound it lacked before. An interesting song concept and effective enough that you’ll forgive the band for the first half of the song. Like a lot of the tracks on here the vocals are very sparse and down in the mix so they don’t obviously stand out.
More wind.
More instrumental.
It’s not until Héja-Nász Az Avaron you realize what you’ve been missing. Crunchy riffs. They aren’t complicated or fast just big, beefy and available in spades. If that doesn't fill you up feel free to let the impending vocal onslaught satisfy your needs. It’s nice to get a break from the sometimes over dramatic synth and organ sounds which for now are forced into the background. Sadly for the first time, the drumming, which is all done by a program totally fails. Not at all matching the strength of the rest of the song. Its like trying to break rocks with a foam finger instead of sledge hammer.
The next track, Zápor is the shortest on the album at four and half minutes and also the calmest song on this black circle. It has nice echoing clean guitar lines and typically admirable performances from both of the album’s guest artists. Drumming? Thumbs down.
Az Ősanya Szól Ivadékaihoz is easily the best song on the second half of the album. It finds the rare sweet spot where all the instruments are mixed together perfectly and really takes advantage of the band’s symphonic tendencies. Even the vocals are a step up here as well. Lead singer Tamas Katai adds a powerful, dark monotone delivery to his arsenal that works well alongside his typical screams.
To me this track would have made the best closer as I often skip the following song that happens to be the actual one. It is the only track where spoken word is the focal point and thus I take away very little. There’s not a lot going on musically either so while tonally there is some sense of closure this isn’t required listening unless you’ve got free time.
More wind noises. Fade to black.
So what is this album actually about? My first guess would be a close examination on the benefits of wind power but since the album’s name translates to An Exhibition on Vanishing Time maybe its more complex than that. Looking back it’s very impressive a two member DIY band could self release and create a record of this quality. Even more surprising is that it didn’t get picked up by a label and re-released until 6 years later. It’s alright though. That is just proof they were ahead of their time.
